Apparatus for weighing livestock



June 11, 1940. A. A. VATER ET AL 2,204,389

APPARATUS FOR WEIGHING LIVESTOCK Filed April 2, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS' 4/1 0264 4. V4 723 JJ 29 BY (Hear/4N J 1 47.:2

ATTORNEY Patented June 11, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE Andrew A. Vater, Art, and Christian I. Vater,

Mason, Tex.

Application April 2, 193$,Serial No. 199,616

4 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for weighing livestock.

An object of this invention is to provide apparatus of the character described, which shall 5 be rugged, strong, compact, easy to use, relatively inexpensive to manufacture, positive in operation, and yet practical and efficient to a high degree.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described,

and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of the various possible illustrative em bodiments of this invention,

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of the im- ,5 proved apparatus with parts in cross-section;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is an end elevational view of the apparatus.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, I 0 designates apparatus embodying the invention for weighing livestock animals or other articles. The same comprises a rectangular bottom frame II, comprising a front portion I2 and a rear portion I3, and end portions I4.

The portions I2, I3' and I4 are of angle shaped, transverse cross-section. and are bolted or riveted together at the corners in any suitable manner. Each has a bottom inwardly extending horizontal wall, and an upwardly extending vertical wall.

The side portions I4 may be connected to the rear portion I3, by inclined braces I5.

Attached to the front corners of the frame II, are a pair of upstanding posts or members H, which may likewise be made of angle shaped bars. The upstanding members I'I are interconnected at the top by a horizontal bar l8. Said members I! are interconnected to the front portion l2 of the frame, by inclined braces I9, and to the side portions I4, by inclined braces 20.

Screwed to the horizontal walls of the side portions l4, and disposed adjacent the rear portion I3, of the frame II, are screws 22 having 55 pointed upper ends 23. Each screw may be provided with a lock nut 24, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

Supported for pivotalv movement on the pointed upper ends 23, of the screws 22, are the rearward ends 26 of a V-shaped member 27. Said member 2'! has a pair of rearwardly and outwardly inclined arms 28. The apex 29 of member 21 may be located directly beneath bar I8. The outer ends of arms 28 are formed with through openings 32, each of which receives a bolt 33 10 formed with a countersunk V-shaped opening 35, at'its lower end, receiving the pointed upper end 23, of one of the screws 22.

It will now be understood that the V-shaped member El may be tilted up or down about the 15,: outer ends of the arms 28 which engage the screws 22.

Means is provided for connecting the apex end 29 of member 21 to scale mechanism 35, mounted on the bar I8. To this end, there is fixed on bar go I8, a bracket 31 provided with a horizontal pin 38 disposed below said bar. Engaging the pin 38, is a book 39 provided with a'knife edge bearing 40, at its lower end, to pivotally support a weigh ing beam or steel yard t I. On the steel yard may 25 be hung the usual weight 43. Attached to the bar I8, is a guide 44, provided with a pair of parallel pins 45, between which the outer end of the beam is received. Attached to the beam 4|. is a hook 46, connected by a link ll to the apex portion 29 of member 21.

Straddling the bracket 3'! is a yoke 48, adjustable vertically with respect to said bracket by a central screw 50. The lower ends of the arms 01' yoke 48 are connected by springs 51 to opposite sides of the hook 46.

Supported on intermediate portions of the arms 28 of the V-shaped' member 21, is a crate in which the animals may stand while being weighted. Said crate 60 comprises a plurality of 0 similar, parallel, U-shaped brackets 6|, supporting bottom flooring 62, and front and rear upwarly and outwardly inclined walls 63. The flooring 62 and walls I53 may be made of parallel slats of wood, or in any other suitable manner. 5 The upper ends of walls 63 may be interconnected by members 64 to strengthen the crate. At the ends of the crate are doors 66, preferably hinged to the ends of the front wall 63 on hinges 61, and adapted to be held in closed position by 50 latches 68.

When weighing the animals, one door is opened to let the animal in, and then said door is closed. After the weighing operation, the other door is opened to let the animal out. The crate 60 may be connected to the posts I! by substantially horizontal links 10.

The manner of supporting the crate on the arms 28 of member 21 will now be described:

Each arm 28 is formed, mediately the ends thereof, with a vertical through opening 12 to receive a bolt '13 fixed to said arm. Each bolt has a pointed upper end 14. The middle of the bottom portion of each bracket BI is formed with an opening '15 to receive the upper point of one of the bolts '13.

It will now be understood that the crate 60 is supported on intermediate portions of the arms 28. The distance between each bolt 13 and the adjacent bolt 33, is preferably the length of each arm 28, whereby the weight of the animal weighed on the machine, is five times the weight indicated on the weighing beam 4!. Obviously, the bolt 13 may be located in any suitable position on the arms 28, it being understood, that the scale reading on the weighing beam 4| is multiplied according to the ratio of the full length of the arm 28, to the length between the bolts and the outer pivotal points of the arms 28.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which the several objects of this invention are achieved, and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Havin thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. Apparatus of the character described, comprising a bottom frame, a pair of vertical posts on said frame, a bar interconnecting the upper ends of said posts, a horizontal V-shaped member, means for pivotally connecting the outer ends of the arms of said V-shaped member to said frame, weighing mechanism interconnecting the apex of said V-shaped member with said bar, a crate adapted to receive animals, supported on intermediate portions of the arms of said V- shaped member, and links interconnecting said posts with said crate, said crate having upwardly and outwardly inclined front and rear walls, and doors at both ends thereof.

2. Weighing apparatus of the character described, comprising a horizontal frame having front, rear and side portions, a pair of front posts attached to the front corners of said horizontal frame, a bar interconnecting the upper ends of said posts, a pair of members fixed to said frame, adjacent the rear portion thereof, and having pointed upper ends, a horizontal V-shaped member disposed above said horizontal frame and having a pair of rearwardly and outwardly inclined arms, countersunk means adjacent the outer ends of said arms to receive the pointed ends of said pair of members, the apex of said V-shaped member being disposed beneath said bar, means on intermediate portions of said arms provided with pointed upper ends, weighing mechanism supported by said bar and connected to the apex portion of said V-shaped member, a crate having a bottom wall, front and rear, upwardly and outwardly inclined walls, and provided with doors at the ends thereof, means for supporting said crate on said second mentioned pointed means, and links interconnecting said crate with said posts.

3. Apparatus of the character described comprising a bottom frame, a pair of upstanding vertical posts on said frame, a bar interconnecting said posts and disposed above said frame, a horizontal V-shaped member having diverging arms, screws on said frame, members on said arms having sockets to receive the upper ends of said screws for pivotally connecting said member to said frame, weighing mechanism interconnecting the apex of said V-shaped member with said bar, a crate adapted to receive animals, bolts at intermediate points of said arms, said crate having sockets to receive the upper ends of said last mentioned bolts for supporting said crate onintermediate portions of said arms, and between the pivotal points of said arms and the apex of said member.

4. Apparatus of the character described comprising a bottom frame, a pair of upstanding vertical posts on said frame, a bar interconnecting said posts and disposed above said frame, a horizontal V-shaped member having diverging arms, screws on said frame, members on said arms having sockets to receive the upper ends of said screws for pivotally connecting said member to said frame, weighing mechanism interconnecting the apex of said V-shaped member with said bar, a crate adapted to receive animals, bolts at intermediate points of said arms, said crate having sockets to receive the upper ends of said last mentioned bolts for supporting said crate on intermediate portions of said arms, and between the pivotal points of said arms and the apex of said member, and links interconnecting said posts with said crate.

ANDREW A. VATER. CHRISTIAN J. VATER. 

